Former Caterham reserve driver Alexander Rossi will make his race debut for Marussia at Spa this weekend after the Banbury-based team announced that the Amercian racer will replace Max Chilton for this grand prix, with the Briton being sidelined due to “contractual issues”.

Team Principal John Booth said: “Although it was not our intention to offer Alexander the possibility to race this season, in light of the circumstances we are pleased to be providing him with the opportunity to make his Grand Prix debut at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Franchorchamps. “Naturally we hope to resume normal service with respect to our established race driver line-up as soon as possible,” he added. “But for now we wish Alexander well for the weekend ahead and we look forward to seeing him in action.”

Rossi, who joined Marussia as reserve driver last month, added: “It goes without saying that I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to race in Formula 1 for the first time and I cannot thank the Marussia F1 Team enough for the faith they are demonstrating in me.

“It’s a very big moment for me and there’s a lot to prepare in a short space of time, but on the other hand I have felt ready for this for quite a while now,” he said. “It is also exciting to be given this opportunity at such a fantastic and historical circuit as Spa-Francorchamps. I can’t wait to drive the MR03 from tomorrow and I hope to reward the team with a solid race weekend.”

A statement from Chilton’s camp added: “Max Chilton has volunteered to step out of his race seat for this weekend’s race in Spa, Belgium, to allow the team to attract much needed funds by selling his seat. Max will attend the race and be on hand to support the team in any way possible. Marussia are currently in talks with several new investors and it is expected the situation will be resolved before the next race in the F1 calendar in Monza.”

Rossi is the second driver to take over a race seat this weekend with Andre Lotterer set to replace Kamui Kobayashi at Caterham at Spa.

Any boring track, could made some (financial) sense. At legendary Spa with lots of rain, 80% chance of safety car every race, and one of the highest chances of overtaking?? Why not take the risk and let Kamui do his thing?

BUT Unfortunately GREEN is the right color for Caterham, seeing all they think about is $$$ (green in US)

Kobi is the only reason Caterham have been on the radar at all this year (if you leave out all the negative stuff such as their financial troubles, Tony selling them to who knows who, and their god ugly nose), while the other guy (sorry, forgot his name again) has been doing precisely squat.

In a Formula 1 context, the name Rossi will be associated with Alex Rossi. If he is as good as I hope he is, he will undoubtedly brand his name with F1, just as Andretti did, and then the F1 "Rossi" will be just as, if not more famous as the Moto "Rossi" (Valentino). Especially in the United States where this whole brand name thing will matter the most.

Scott Speed wasn't quite good enough and his bad attitude (if I remember correctly) was what secured his exit from Formula 1.

@ wade parmino....oh really, the hubris! alexander rossi will never be more famous than the moto GP rossi. a guy who has 7 world championships in his hip pocket is a true legend. don't ask my word for it just ask anyone who understands the sport. i mean, seven, world titles! do you really comprehend what that actually means?

Rahal and Andretti haven't shown anything that would even give the impression they deserve to be in F1and Johnson just doen't have the open wheel experience. The hasen't been an Unser racing in a decade. Newgarden looks like he might have some potential though.

American sounding? Like the equally Italian in origin, Andretti? Names are what you make of them and every name in America has its origin from elsewhere within the last few hundred years. I hope Alexander Rossi begins to make a name for himself as an impressive American driver in F1 with a solid debut at Spa this weekend (for a driver in a Marussia) and heal the scars left by Michael Andretti, a name and legacy that Americans would have preferred to give back to the Italians.

Lol, Andretti is Italian, where do you think Mario was born? And were do you think Keselowski originates from? America is a country of immigrants with a lot of their names being Germanic, Slavic, Irish etc in origin.

So anyhow, since he's the only guy to win races over multiple decades, like 3 or 4, and layed down all that winning under the stars and stripes, do tell me that beside the sound of his name and his ethnicity what is the claim of the Andretti name to Italian Motorsport?

Every single thing Mario and anyone with the Andretti name have achieved has been under the Amercian colors. Period. Clearly Mario doesn't turn his back on his heritage, but I'm pretty sure that by his choice of colors he raced under he's quite clear as to where his opportunties and motorsport carrier came from. You say Andretti - I say American Motorsport Legacy spanning generations and disciplines - all under a flag that features no green.

Don't even think it! Andretti Green team was named that due to sponsor! 🙂

Andretti family did all the heavy lifting to beyond any doubt link Andretti name to American motorsport. So did the others. So while there is ethnicity and every name, some are prebranded with certain facts. Rossi name is a motorcycle name linked to a guy who flies the Italian flag proud. This Rossi's brand has to contend with that. Andretti family is proud of their Italian roots. But there is no doubt where their motorsport colors are.

@ james....yes he did have a great career in in indy cars. i don't think that matter is in dispute. i was referring only to F1 as a valid comparison. not like if we look at mansell's career in indy cars, which is the very opposite.

michael andretti in F1 was rubbish. in the good ole US of A he may well be revered but that is peculiarly american. americans very rarely see things from a truly global perspective as they are simply too inward looking and anything happening offshore doesn't really matter or for that matter, match up.'' i say this as a generalisation and am trying to not be too specific in order to avoid a conflict. F1 is a truly global exercise. indy cars are all deep fried turkey legs and budweiser to me although i must admit some of the better road courses are good racing.

i would love to see both formulas going head to head, just for the thrill of it. now that would be interesting.

whenever i hear the name andretti i think of michael andretti, the failed american who drove a few races for maclaren. he was totally outclassed and totally out of his league. he refused to be domiciled in either europe of the UK and as soon as a race was over, [early for him mostly as he rarely, if ever actually finished a race] he would jump on a plane and high tail it back to the land of the great satan.

seebee, do you still count him as part of the 'great american racing' legacy?

Go ahead...google Rossi, see how many pages you have to push through of MotoGP and football before you get to this Rossi. Poor guy, just happens to have a famous name made famous by others.

Every time I catch some drag racing and Tony Schumacher pulls up, guess what I'm thinking? Funny thing? Tony is a 7 time champion. 🙂 Still, in my mind I see Schumi driving that top fuel monster. Maybe I need a brain tuneup to balance my mind share better?

@ grant....your comment re three car teams is what i have been promoting for quite a long time. what is the point of keeping the rats and mice on a drip feed [if that really].? mobile chicanes that in no way contribute to the actual racing and will only ever swallow vast sums of cash for little or no return.

three car teams is the way to go. then we would see a closing of the gaps and more top drivers would be attracted as a result. it would be a win win situation. let's face it, the bottom of the barrel will always be the bottom of the barrel.

I disagree a bit, at the end of the day no sportcis made of all "real madrids". In all team sports the guys on top are cos they have most cash. The mid field guys are just as valid look at torro rosso kvyat and now verstappen appear to be future talent, however in their current teams have no chance of a win maybe even podium, these teams are the proving ground. I do also think however if your at the back of the grid stugglung to pay bills let alone finish races whats the point, F1 might do better to lose the last 2/3 teams and let each team field 3 cars instead

The number of teams that actually can afford to compete and win points is 5. The rest are just in a free-fall of losing money, and hopefully generating some marketing value for their parent company (Force India springs to mind).

There has always been a divide between rich and poor teams in F1...but the gap never seemed so large before.

N.B. - And Williams only really made your list because of the Martini sponsorship deal...without that, I suspect their finances would be a lot shakier.

Wow, Rossi really must have some backing then - as Chilton brought a big conglomerate worth of backing to get his seat. It's going to be interesting to see how Bianchi reacts - he's lost a few quali sessions to Chilton on merit this year, unlike previous years, and if he's expecting to get Kimi's seat in the next couple of years he better put Rossi in his place quick.

If I'm to read between the lines here, I don't think it is so much that Rossi has backing as there is issues with Chilton's backing. Rossi won't be a long term solution for Marussia, I believe we will see them looking for a more viable financial option for that seat if things are not resolved with Chilton.

I'm loathe to use the cliche musical chairs, but.............................

Anyway, best of luck, but up against Bianchi, who will blossom into a Ferrari driver within a year or two (yes, it will happen by 2016 - if I'm wrong then why are the Scuderia farming him out?) it's a tough ask. Especially with limited testing/running.

As I see it, there is a snag with teams running third cars, or customer cars - there can only be one winner and there will always be someone who comes last. If you get rid of the likes of Marussia and Caterham (the tail enders) the current midfield teams would simply become the new tail enders, they would then struggle for sponsorship and eventually die. Then the new midfielders become the tail enders and so the cycle begins again......

@ C63...yes, you have some interesting points there but all the same i still think that three cars is an option that should be pursued. i matters not one whit whether or not bernie likes the idea.

three car teams would provide more competetive racing for certain. yes you are right, of course there can be only one winner and there will always be those who came last but the overall competetiveness would be on a far higher level given the 'quality' of the cars. from a financial prospect three car teams could actually lower the cost given economies of scale. we would then see drivers like maybe vergne/algersuari/buemi et al getting extended F1 careers.

there are a lot of advantages in going down this route and not too much downside.

You are right abut the unequal way in which the prize money is distributed being a problem (allthough I believe its FOM and not the FIA who dish it out). But if we had 3 car teams I fear it would be worse, as the power would be then be concentrated in even fewer teams than now, which can never end well.There has been talk about the way in which the finances of F1 are managed would actually breach EU competition laws - sadly no one has been brave enough to take Bernie on and find out. Hey ho, one day.

I take your point about sponsorship being easier to find for a team like Ferrari compared to ,say, Marussia and I agree, on paper, it looks like a good idea to have more cars who have a chance of winning [in the mix]. But there is still the problem of only one car being able to win and always having a loser.

If 3 car teams are allowed, that's great if you are a front running team as it increases your chance of winning and the resultant exposure for your sponsors increases too. But, let's say McLaren get things sorted next year with the new Honda PU and Mercedes are still dominant. Suddenly Red Bull can only really hope for a 7th place or maybe a 4th or a 5th if the front runners have a problem. Then Ferrari manage to get their ducks in a row [finally] so now Red Bull are scrabbling over 10th ,11th and 12th. How long before Dieter decides to pack up and market his eneregy drinks in a different manner - who wants to buy an energy drink from a team of losers? Overnight we lose 6 cars from the grid. How do we replace them as the entry level to join has gone up from circa £60million/season for a team like Marussia to £250million+ if you want to compete at the sharp end?

For me it just doesn't work and my over riding reason for not liking the idea is that Bernie does! That and customer car teams where the same problems would arise.

Generally things Bernie likes are good for Bernie and tend to be a lot less good for anyone else 🙁

There's always going to be winners and losers and of course the winners should be entitled to more prize money, but I think if the FIA distributed the cash a little more evenly across the field it might help mitigate the problem a bit.

I know I'm dreaming and it would be nice if the FIA could some day come to the same conclusion, but in the meantime crazy allocations and private deals continue to screw up the field.

@ C63....have you considered the fact that with three car teams there would be far more competitive drives on the table and it would certainly close the mid field up even further. the teams would/could attract more sponsors simply because of the names involved, both team and driver. i should imagine that it would be easier to get $$$ for a third ferrari than it would for a marussia.

the plain fact is that very few people even know what marussia is/was/will be. all these bottom feeders contribute nothing to a sunday afternoon. they attract almost nil TV exposure and they are constantly being lapped thereby creating a nuisance for all the others who are actually racing not just filling up the grid slots. these back marker teams are anachronistic and need to be eliminated. as a sweetener maybe there could be some agreement that with three car teams at least one car could be mandated to have a promising rookie at the wheel thereby offering real incentives for future stars to emerge.

Do you think adding third Mercedes, Ferrari or McLaren would add real competition right now?

All we'd end up with is a probable Mercedes 1-2-3 on the podium (boring) with Ferrari and McLaren struggling to catch Red Bull for the scraps.

I can't overstate how much I am over Caterham - I'd honestly rather have seen HRT stay than have the shambles that Caterham has ended up as - but for my money seeing Bianchi get the two points for Marussia was one of the little highlights of the year.

Just because they are small doesn't mean they should be knocked - while certain other teams are falling apart they are slowly but surely getting it together.

I look forward to see the benchmarking between the two of them; I expect Bianchi to show well, comparatively, based on overwhelmingly more experience.

However, the whole thing is so complicated, and getting just one thing wrong could blow Bianchi's weekend, and a host of lucky episodes, at this race of (even for F1) unusually high degree of variable variables,, while of lowly probabililty, could hoist Rossi high.

I expect Lotterer to beat Ericson, right out of the box; he could be a gritty combatant, but I would have rather seen him against Kobayashi.

Mind you, Michael did have some testing before the 1991 Belgian GP - at the Silverstone South Circuit I think. I'm not sure about Rossi, but with the limited testing in current grand prix racing, I doubt it's much, certainly not enough to knock Bianchi into the weeds.

It does show the fallacy of restricting circuit running for (to quote Mott the Hoople), "all the young dudes." A bit of preparation makes all the difference for the young guns. That's why Verstappen Jnr will actually be in the pound seat next year because he will have a full winters testing programme behind him - for a young blade, there's nothing like actual track time getting to grips (literally) with your grand prix steed.

Thing is though, its better for a driver to make his grand prix debut at the start of the year when he's had a full winter's testing behind him, but I suppose beggars can't be choosers and all that.........

It's not Rossi's fault though - the silly restrictions on testing have made it difficult for all young drivers.

á@gaz boy....the FIA should really re think this stupid testing ban. they should open it up for rookies at least. if a team decides to place a rookie for the following year then that should trigger a testing period for that driver only and for say three sessions in any one year. it would only apply to rookies so what could the FIA possibly object to. it could also be mandated that the car used must be identical to the current model being raced therefore eliminating possible upgrades being used for testing. that way it would totally driver related.

I'm a bit disgusted by the disloyalty in the response from the Chilton camp. There's always been huge insecurity from Chilton, as though he believes he's there on merit and is heroically stepping aside for the good on the team. I don't think his response will go down too well with the team, and it wouldn't surprise me if Max's time in F1 is now over.

When you consider that Kobayashi put a Sauber on the front row in Spa in 2012 (granted, he was then hampered by a fault with the clutch during the start and got caught up in the subsequent 1st-corner incident), it boggles the mind that the excuse given for Lotterer taking his place is "experience".

If experience matters, then why on earth is Marcus Ericsson still in the other car?

The new Caterham management should be more upfront like the Marussia and tell it like it is - Kobayashi lost his seat because Lotterer is bringing in money.

If Colin Kolles is trying to cement his reputation as a dodgy team principal / adviser / whatever, he's on the right track by doing stuff like this, the sacking of Caterham staff and subsequent threats of SUING the ex-staff for complaining.

@ chris chong.......could you possibly provide a link to the 'lotterer is bringing cash' comment. i didn't think he was getting the drive for zip but to date i haven't seen any mention of lotterer actually paying for this drive?

This is all quite worrying, irrespective of Chilton getting his drive back, because it serves to illustrate just how precarious the financial position of these teams are. Caterham, Marussia, Sauber; we've been hearing about it for months but we're now, it seems, seeing the problems play out more visibly.

Having said all that, and despite agreeing it's a hard blow on Kamui Kobayashi, I am actually really happy for Andre Lotterer! I remember him being a young Jaguar driver (even as part of their brief F3 junior team I think) and he has got a good racing pedigree. He's one of those many drivers who slip through the F1 net but who I think can do a competent job in the sport, if not more. Yes, his biggest successes have come in Endurance Racing but three Le Mans titles is not to be scoffed at and he's also been super-competitive in Japanese single-seater racing (very consistent in Formula Nippon/Super Formula - though only one title in 2011, under F1 rules I think this would have been increased to three, looking at wikipedia?). I wish him well for his debut F1 weekend.